This invention relates to an athletic shoe with retractable spikes. The invention is most applicable for use by golfers, although other application to sports and events using spiked shoes is foreseeable. For example, the shoe may be used for baseball, football, hiking, and the like. The invention includes means readily operable by the wearer for lifting the spikes into a retracted position within the shoe and for lowering the spikes into a spike-exposing position. It is generally desirable to retain the spikes in the retracted position when wearing the shoes on hard surfaces or easily damaged surfaces, such as parking lots, side walks, wooden floors, or club house floors.
Conventional spiked golf shoes suffer from drawbacks and limitations. Since the spikes are fixed directly to the outsole of the shoe, they are in constant contact with the ground surface during wear. This causes excessive wear on the spikes as the shoes are worn in areas off the golf course, and often results in slip-and-fall accidents and injury. Moreover, the exposed spikes can cause substantial damage to the putting greens of the golf course and to the floor of the club house. As a result, there exists a need for a spiked athletic shoe wherein the spikes can be quickly and easily moved and retained in a retracted position within the shoe during wear.
According to one spiked golf shoe disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,608, a number of spikes are fixed to the inner sole of the shoe, and are urged upwardly into a retracted position within the shoe by a resilient sponge material positioned between the inner sole and the outer sole of the shoe. The outer sole of the shoe includes a corresponding number of holes for receiving the spikes as they move downwardly from the retracted position into an exposed position. As a wearer steps, his body weight compresses the sponge material and forces the spikes downwardly into the exposed position and into direct contact with the ground surface. When the wearer's foot is lifted from the ground, the spikes are again urged upwardly into the retracted position by the sponge material.
Although the '608 patent addresses the need for a golf shoe with retractable spikes, it does not provide means for holding the spikes in the retracted position during shoe wear, and thus does not solve the problems associated with conventional spiked golf shoes. Instead, the primary object of the '608 patent is to provide a golf shoe which cleans away dirt from an area surrounding the spikes as the spikes retract within the shoe.